What do the Emmys have in common with Communities for a Better Environment, a nonprofit working for environmental, social, and economic justice?

I’m not sure, except that last Wednesday, a lil party celebrating both happened at Cisco Home. My email invite invited me to “Get ready for the Big Day & pamper the ECO Way at The greenlivinglifestyle Lounge & Spa pre-Emmy Week 2007,” while the attached PDF invited me to “a special benefit benefiting Communities for a Better Environment.”

The result — a fun if somewhat confusing party that combined enviro-fundraising and organic booze with handwriting analysis, diet book displays, and bottled water promos.

In the middle of the festivities, the crowd was quieted so we could hear people from Communities for a Better Environment speak passionately about the nonprofit’s work: grassroots organizing, community-based research, and legal assistance in low-income communities of color in Cali’s most densely populated neighborhoods — the groups that’re often most affected by pollution.

Inspiring, if somewhat incongruous with the rest of the party.

After the speech, I got my handwriting analyzed, nibbled on eats from Loteria Grill, and met other partygoers, all with artistic-sounding jobs and interests that leave you vaguely wondering how exactly they manage to make rent –

I drank a lot of organic vodka lemonade and woke up on Thursday with a shwag bag. In it: a hair product, and a little seedling that, so far, has remained alive –

Update: Environmental Justice: Going green’s not just for hippies and yuppies.

Update, 8/2/08: African Americans are disproportionately affected by climate change

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